Charm
Charlie can’t believe he kissed her cheek at the first dance.
Technically, it really is a charm to keep people away, because if he kisses her a lot, then surely she won’t ever have a crush on anyone else, right? Not that he does…okay, fine. He does. He super does!! And she’s so smart and nice that she would probably make friends with a lot of people who won’t like him, and then Thandi wouldn’t like him anymore, either, and then what? Then he’s stuck and no one will ever want to be his friend again because he messed up so bad. And Thandi will hate his guts a lot more!
He has to kiss her so that maybe she would like him more. It’s hard to get up the guts to do it again. The first time was just some luck, really, because he couldn’t compliment her or else she would know how much he liked her.
Everyone knows that the first one to have a crush loses the game of love or whatever. At least, that’s what he heard from the older people who hung around his house sometimes. And then when they’re discovered, that’s when everything goes bad, right?
If Charlie knows anything at all, it’s that getting married is the worst thing ever. So, obviously, even getting on that path is awful. But, but, but…how does he deal with this? Winter vacation is coming up in just a month. And what if something happens?
Thandi, working quietly next to him, doesn’t even glance up as he clings to her, arms wrapped around her chest as he settles his head on her shoulder. As long as he’s not in the way, she doesn’t mind. He swallows.
Her cheek is right there. No, no, it’s okay, he doesn’t have to do it… But he does! What if she left and when she came back, she forgot all about him??
Charlie takes a deep breath and kisses her cheek.
“Oh!” Thandi looks at him and he feels his face get hotter than ever. He buries his face into her shoulder as she smiles at him. “What was that for?”
“Charm,” he mumbles. Don’t cry. Don’t cry…
Thandi’s hand comes up and he feels her using her sleeve to wipe his face. “Like at the dance?”
“Mm-hm.”
Thandi pats his head. “Okay.”
She fell for it! Again! How dumb can she be? Pretty dumb for someone so smart.
Every week, at least once. Maybe sometimes twice. Leading up to vacation, he presses his lips to her cheek and enjoys the small smile she gives him.
Does she like it? He thinks so. It seems to cheer her up when she’s down…which happens more and more as winter vacation beckons.
His mother sends him a letter asking him to stay for the time being at the school. It seems she and Uncle Josiah are up to something and want to give him a surprise for summer vacation. So he’s going to be all alone…in the Slytherin common room…ugh. So he imagines that he’s storing up kisses to make himself feel better, too.
Winter vacation arrives. Everyone is ready to depart. He’s absolutely despondent, clutching on Thandi desperately. “Thandi!!!”
His tears soak into her robes as she pats his head. He leans back in an effort to lift her and it’s no good. She giggles at him instead and he pouts at her.
“L-look, you can’t forget your charm.”
“To keep people away?”
“Yes, plus I read that, um, it’s a good protection spell.”
“Oh, really? I never heard of that!”
“Only ‘cuz it’s in the newspapers and stuff!! And my mom told me so.”
Thandi opens her mouth to argue the point—of course she reads the news, but what she read from the history books that the kissing was what saved a baby, sort of, but only kind of? Maybe even not really? Only three people were there and two are dead and one was a baby, so of course no one really knows.
All of this whips away when he pulls her head down to kiss her forehead, then her cheeks, and squeezes her.
“Okay, promise you’ll be back, or I’ll never forgive you!”
“Of course I’ll be back! After all, it’s school! I can’t just leave.” She doesn’t even want to be leaving for winter vacation. It won’t be fun. She watches Charlie fade away into the fog as the boats drift from the castle. He waves the whole time.